Seat belt connector assembly

ABSTRACT

A seat belt connector assembly is provided with a seat belt anchor adapted to be coupled to a passenger seat and a cover for accommodating an upper part of the seat belt anchor. The seat belt anchor and the cover, which are relatively movable, are each formed with a seat-belt insertion hole permitting a seat belt to pass therethrough, and are formed with a mark and a through hole, respectively. When the desired relative position permitting the desired tension force to be applied to the seat belt is established between the seat belt anchor and the cover, the mark is made visible through the through hole.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to a seat belt connector assemblyfor fixing a seat belt to a passenger seat in a vehicle, and moreparticularly, to a seat belt connector assembly permitting a seat beltto be applied with a sufficient tension large enough to restrain a childseat in a passenger seat.

[0003] 2. Related Art

[0004] A vehicle is generally provided with a seat belt system forrestraining a passenger in a passenger seat. The seat belt systemtypically comprises a three-point seat belt and a retractor, provided ata lower portion of a center pillar, for storing an unused length of theseat belt. The seat belt extends upwardly from the retractor along thecenter pillar and then extends downward after changing its extendingdirection at a belt anchor attached to the center pillar. As exemplarilyshown in FIG. 1, the seat belt 1 is fixed at its distal end to one sideof the seat cushion through a seat belt connector assembly 2 and afastening belt 5, and is provided at its intermediate portion with atongue plate 1 b, which is adapted to be coupled to a belt buckle 4fixed to another side of the seat cushion.

[0005] When using the seat belt, a seated passenger pulls the seat belt1 to extend diagonally and downwardly in front of the torso of thepassenger, and couples the tongue plate 1 b to the belt buckle 4. Thus,the torso and hip of the seated passenger are restrained by a shoulderbelt portion 1 c and a lap belt portion of the seat belt 1,respectively.

[0006] As exemplarily shown in FIG. 2, the seat belt connector assembly2 is composed of a molded plastic product 7 in which a metal plate 6 isembedded. The metal plate 6 is formed with a seat-belt insertion hole 8and a fastening-belt insertion hole 9 which individually permit the seatbelt 1 and the fastening belt 5 to pass therethrough.

[0007] The seat belt system for restraining a passenger may be alsoutilized to restrain a so-called child seat in a passenger seat. In sucha case, the seat back and seat cushion of the child seat (denoted atreference numeral 30 and shown by one-dotted chain line in FIG. 1) maybe restrained by the shoulder and lap belt portions 1 c, 1 a of the seatbelt 1, respectively. On this occasion, the child seat 30 must besecurely restrained by the seat belt 1 applied with a sufficienttension. However, it is difficult for a user to determine whether asufficient tension is applied to the seat belt 1.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] An object of the present invention is to provide a seat beltconnector assembly which permits a user to easily make a judgement as towhether a sufficient tension is applied to a seat belt for restraining apassenger or a child seat in a passenger seat.

[0009] A seat belt connector assembly according to the present inventioncomprises a seat belt anchor adapted to be coupled to a passenger seat,and a cover for accommodating at least part of the seat belt anchor sothat the seat belt anchor and the cover are relatively movable. The seatbelt anchor has a seat-belt insertion hole permitting a seat belt topass therethrough, and the cover has a seat-belt insertion hole which ispermitted to be aligned with the seat-belt insertion hole of the seatbelt anchor and which permits the seat belt to pass therethrough. Theseat belt connector assembly further comprises relative-positionindicating means for indicating a relative position between the seatbelt anchor and the cover. The relative position varies with the changein a tension force applied to the seat belt.

[0010] The seat belt connector assembly of the present invention isuseable after the seat belt anchor of the assembly is coupled to apassenger seat and a seat belt is inserted through the seat-beltinsertion holes of the seat belt anchor and the cover. While a user isutilizing the seat belt to restrain a child seat or the seated user inthe passenger seat, a relative position between the seat belt anchor andthe cover is indicated by the relative-position indicating means. On thebasis of the indication of the relative position given by therelative-position indicating means, the user is enabled to easily make ajudgement as to whether a sufficient tension force has been applied tothe seat belt, i.e., whether the child seat or the seated user has beensecurely restrained in the passenger seat.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011]FIG. 1 is a perspective view exemplarily showing a seat belthaving one end thereof fixed to a passenger seat through a conventionalseat belt connector assembly;

[0012]FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view of the conventional connectorassembly shown in FIG. 1;

[0013]FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a seat beltconnector assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0014]FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view, as seen from the lineIV-IV in FIG. 3, showing part of a cover of FIG. 3;

[0015]FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section view showing a seat belt anchor ofFIG. 3, with the seat belt anchor received in the cover;

[0016]FIG. 6 is a front view showing the connector assembly in a statewhere no tension force is applied to the seat belt;

[0017]FIG. 7 is a section view of the connector assembly taken along theline VII-VII in FIG. 6;

[0018]FIG. 8 is a front view showing the connector assembly in a statewhere a small tension force is applied to the seat belt;

[0019]FIG. 9 is a section view of the connector assembly taken along theline IX-IX in FIG. 8;

[0020]FIG. 10 is a front view showing the connector assembly in a statewhere a sufficient tension force is applied to the seat belt;

[0021]FIG. 11 is a sectional view of the connector assembly taken alongthe line XI-XI in FIG. 10;

[0022]FIG. 12 is a schematic view of relative-position indicating meansaccording to a modification of the present invention;

[0023]FIG. 13 is a schematic view of relative-position indicating meansaccording to another modification of this invention; and

[0024]FIG. 14 is a schematic view of relative-position indicating meansaccording to a further modification of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] With reference to FIGS. 3-11, a seat belt connector assemblyaccording to an embodiment of the present invention will be explained.

[0026] The seat belt connector assembly of this embodiment is suitablefor a seat belt system such as the system shown in FIG. 1, which systemis utilized to restrain a passenger or a child seat in a passenger seat.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 3, the connector assembly comprises a cover 11and a seat belt anchor 21 having an upper half thereof received in thecover 11. The cover 11 and the seat belt anchor 21 are arranged to berelatively movable.

[0028] The cover 11 has front, rear, right and left walls and a topwall, and is formed into a box shape having an open bottom. The frontand rear walls of the cover 11 are formed with seat-belt insertionholes, respectively. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the left and right wallsof the cover 11 are formed with stepped through holes 14, respectively,into which fitting members 13 are fitted. Each fitting member 13 isformed at its upper and lower end portions with stepped portions.Further, the lower end portion of the fitting member 13 is provided witha projection 13 a which extends inwardly and horizontally from thefitting member 13. Moreover, a through hole 15 is formed in a lower leftcorner of the front wall of the cover 11.

[0029] The seat belt anchor 21 is comprised of a seat belt anchor body21 a made of, e.g. , a metal plate, and a molded plastic product 21 b inwhich a lower half of the anchor body 21 a is embedded. The seat beltanchor body 21 a is comprised of upper and lower halves of a square ringshape and a connecting portion through which the upper and lower halvesare connected to each other. The upper and lower halves of the anchorbody 21 a are individually formed with a seat-belt insertion hole 22 anda through hole 23, e.g., by stamping. The molded plastic product 21 b isprovided with a through hole, corresponding to the through hole 23 ofthe anchor body 21 a, and provided at its left and right end faces withrecesses 24. Furthermore, a mark 25 applied with paint is provided at anupper left corner of the front face of the molded plastic product 21 b.

[0030] A compression spring 26 is disposed in each of the recesses 24formed in the seat belt anchor 21. The spring 26 has an upper endthereof abutting against a recess-defining face, on the upper side, ofthe seat belt anchor 21. A lower end of the spring 26 abuts against theprojection 13 a of the fitting member 13. Thus, the cover 11 is urgeddownward by the spring force of the spring 26.

[0031] As mentioned below, the cover 11 assumes its lowermost positionwhen no tension force is applied to the seat belt 1. In the lowermostposition, the projection 13 a of the fitting member 13 abuts against arecess-defining face, on the lower side, of the seat belt anchor 21.When a tension force is applied to the seat belt 1, the cover 11 ismoved upward against the spring force of the spring 26. In this manner,as the tension force applied to the seat belt 1 increases, the spring 26is compressed to decrease the distance between the opposite ends of thespring, which distance determines the relative position between thecover 11 and the seat belt anchor 21. Thus, the relative position varieswith the increase in the tension force.

[0032] The fitting member 13 fitted to the through hole 14 of the cover11 cooperates with the spring 26 to constitute engagement means 31through which the cover 11 and the seat belt anchor 21 are engaged toeach other so that their relative position may vary.

[0033] As already explained, the mark 25 is provided at an upper leftcorner of the front face of the molded plastic product 21 b of the seatbelt anchor 21 and the through hole 15 is provided at a lower leftcorner of the front wall of the cover 11. When the seat belt 1 isapplied with no tension force, the cover 11 assumes its lowermostposition so that the mark 25 is located above the through hole 15. Thus,the mark 25 is hidden by the front wall of the cover 11. On the otherhand, when the seat belt 1 is applied with a sufficient tension force,the cover 11 moves upward with respect to the seat belt anchor 21 toestablish a positional relation such that the mark 25 and the throughhole 15 are vertically aligned to each other. As a result, the mark 25is made visible from exterior through the through hole 15.

[0034] The mark 25 cooperates with the through hole 15 to constituterelative-position indicating means 32 for indicating the relativeposition between the seat belt anchor 21 and the cover 11.

[0035] For assemblage of the connector assembly, an upper half of theseat belt anchor 21 is inserted into the cover 11 through a loweropening of the cover 11. Then, the recesses 24 of the seat belt anchor21 and the through holes 14 of the cover 11 are brought to be inalignment with one another, and the springs 26 are fitted into therecesses 24 through the through holes 14. Next, the fitting members 13are fitted to the through holes 14 of the cover 11, with the lower endsof the springs 26 abutted against the projections 13 a of the fittingmembers 13.

[0036] The connector assembly thus assembled is fixed to a passengerseat with use of a fastening belt 5 as shown in FIGS. 6-11, as in thecase of the assembly shown in FIG. 2. Next, an operator causes the cover11 to move upward against the spring forces of the springs 26 such thatthe seat-belt insertion hole 22 of the seat belt anchor 21 is inalignment with the seat-belt insertion holes 12 formed in the front andrear walls of the cover 11. In this state, the operator causes the seatbelt 1 to pass through the seat-belt insertion holes 12 and 22, as shownin FIGS. 6-11.

[0037] In the following, the operation of the seat belt connectorassembly will be explained.

[0038] To utilize the seat belt 1 to protect a passenger, a seatedpassenger pulls the seat belt 1 to extend the seat belt from theretractor toward the front of the passenger torso, and couples thetongue plate of the seat belt 1 to the belt buckle. Then, the passengeradjusts the tension force of the seat belt by pulling the seat belt inthe direction toward or away from the retractor, whereby the passengeris properly restrained to the seat by the seat belt.

[0039] In order to restrain a child seat (shown by reference numeral 30in FIG. 1) in a passenger seat by the seat belt 1, a user places thechild seat on the passenger seat, and then restrains the child seat inthe passenger seat with use of the seat belt 1 in substantially the samemanner as in the case of restraining a seated passenger. On thisoccasion, based on the indication given by the relative-positionindicating means 32 of the connector assembly, the user makes a judgmentas to whether or not the child seat is securely restrained in thepassenger seat.

[0040] As explained previously, when no tension force is applied to theseat belt 1, the cover 11 of the connector assembly is applied with onlythe spring forces of the springs 26 disposed in the connector assembly,so that the cover 11 assumes its lowermost position as shown in FIGS.5-7. Thus, the mark 25 provided at an upper left corner of the frontface of the seat belt anchor 21 is located above the through hole 5formed at a lower left corner of the front wall of the cover 11 (seeFIG. 6). As a result, the mark 25 is hidden by the front wall of thecover 11, and hence the user cannot see the mark 25 through the throughhole 15 of the cover 11. In this case, the user determines that the seatbelt 1 has not been applied with a sufficient tension force large enoughto securely restrain the child seat in the passenger seat.

[0041] Thus, the user pulls the seat belt 1 toward the retractor toincrease the tension force applied to the seat belt 1. Since the cover11 assumes a position where equilibrium is established between thetension force of the seat belt 1 and the spring forces of the springs26, the seat belt 1 moves upward to be brought in contact with theseat-belt insertion hole defining face, on the upper side, of the cover11 as the tension force increases.

[0042] Subsequently, as the tension force applied to the seat belt 1increases, the cover 11 is gradually moved upward by the seat belt 1against the spring forces of the springs 26. Thus, the through hole 15formed in the front wall of the cover 11 moves upward so as to be closerto the mark 25 formed in the front face of the seat belt anchor 21. Ifthe desired tension force has not been reached as yet, the mark 25 iskept invisible (FIG. 8).

[0043] Thus, the user further increases the tension force of the seatbelt 1. Hence, the seat belt 1 is further moved upward together with thecover 11, and is brought in contact with the seat-belt insertion holedefining face, on the upper side, of the seat belt anchor 21. At thistime, the tension force of the seat belt 1 reaches the desired tensionforce large enough to securely restrain the child seat, and the throughhole 15 of the cover 11 is at the same height as the mark 25 of the seatbelt anchor 21. As a consequence, the mark 25 is made visible throughthe through hole 15, as shown in FIG. 10.

[0044] When confirming that the mark 25 is visible, the user determinesthat the seat belt 1 is applied with the desired tension force largeenough to permit the child seat to be securely restrained by the seatbelt in the passenger seat. Thus, the user stops pulling the seat belt 1toward the retractor, thereby maintaining the seat belt applied with thedesired tension force.

[0045] When the tension force applied to the seat belt 1 furtherincreases to be greater than the desired tension force, the tensionforce of the seat belt 1 is mainly sustained by the seat belt anchor 21.Since the seat belt anchor 21 is coupled to the passenger seat throughthe fastening belt 5 that is stiff enough to carry the increased tensionforce, the safety of the connector assembly is ensured even if thedesired tension force is exceeded.

[0046] As explained in the above, the seat belt connector assembly ofthis embodiment permits the user to make an easy judgement as to whetheror not the child seat has been securely restrained by the seat belt inthe passenger seat by determining whether the mark 25 can be seenthrough the through hole 15. Thus, the child seat can be securelyrestrained by increasing the tension force of the seat belt until themark 25 becomes visible.

[0047] The present invention is not limited to the foregoing embodimentand may be modified variously.

[0048] For example, the embodiment has dealt with a seat belt connectorassembly that is connected to one end of a seat belt on the seat-cushionside. However, the present invention is applicable to another type ofconnector assembly connected to any appropriate part of a seat belt suchas an intermediate portion thereof to which a tongue plate is attached.

[0049] In stead of a compression spring, a tension spring may beemployed to engage the cover and the seat belt anchor for relativemotion.

[0050] In the embodiment, relative-position indicating means forindicating the relative position between a seat belt anchor and a coveris comprised of a mark provided in the seat belt anchor and a throughhole formed in the cover. However, the indicating means is not limitedto such an arrangement.

[0051]FIG. 12 shows a relative-position indicating means according to amodification of this invention. In FIG. 12, reference numerals 41 and 42individually denote electrodes provided in opposed faces of a cover 11and a seat belt anchor 21, and a reference numeral 43 denotes acapacitance measuring section comprised of an electronic circuit fordetecting the capacitance between the electrodes 41, 42. As the relativeposition between the cover 11 and the seat belt anchor 21 varies withthe change in tension force applied to a seat belt, the capacitance isdetected by the capacitance measuring section 43. When detecting thatthe desired capacitance is reached, the capacitance measuring section 43determines that the desired tension force for the seat belt is reachedand hence the desired relative position is established between the cover11 and the seat belt anchor 21, and actuates an indicating section 44such as an indication lamp, whereby a user is notified that the desiredtension force is reached.

[0052] In FIG. 13 showing relative-position indicating means accordingto another modification of the present invention, reference numerals 51and 52 denote a resistor and a sliding contact which are individuallyprovided as electric elements in opposed faces of a cover 11 and a seatbelt anchor 21. A reference numeral 53 denotes a resistance measuringsection for detecting the resistance between one end of the resistor 51and the sliding contact 52. With the change in tension force of a seatbelt, there occur changes in the relative position between the cover 11and the seat belt anchor 21 and in the resistance between the resistor51 and the sliding contact 52. When determining that the desiredresistance is reached, the resistance measuring section 53 determinesthat the desired tension force is reached and drives an indicatingsection 54.

[0053] The relative-position indicating means shown in FIG. 13 may befurther modified so that electric contacts (not shown) are provided aselectric elements in opposed faces of the cover 11 and the seat beltanchor 21. These electric contacts are brought in contact with eachother to cause an indication lamp to be turned on when the desiredtension force for a seat belt is reached to establish the desiredrelative position between the cover 11 and the seat belt anchor 21.

[0054]FIG. 14 shows relative-position indicating means according to afurther modification of the present invention, which comprises a toothedrack 61 and a pinion gear 62 meshing therewith which are provided asmechanical elements in opposed faces of the cover 11 and the seat beltanchor 21. As the cover 11 moves upward, the rotary shaft of a variableresistor 63 rotates in unison with the pinion gear 62 to change theresistance of the variable resistor 63. When detecting that the desiredresistance is reached, a resistance measuring section 64 determines thatthe desired tension force for a seat belt is reached to turn on anindication lamp 65.

[0055] In the above-described embodiment, the relative-positionindicating means is configured to indicate that the desired relativeposition is reached, at which the desired tension force large enough torestrain a child seat in a passenger seat is generated. Alternatively,the indicating means may be configured to indicate that another desiredrelative position where a tension force properly restraining a seatedpassenger to a seat is generated is reached, in combination with orinstead of the indication in the embodiment.

[0056] Further, the relative position generating the desired tensionforce for a seat belt is not limited to the position explained in theembodiment. For example, the desired tension force may be reached beforethe seat belt abuts against the seat-belt insertion hole defining faceof the seat belt anchor.

[0057] In other respects, the present invention may be modified withinthe inventive concept of this invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A seat belt connector assembly, comprising: aseat belt anchor adapted to be coupled to a passenger seat, said seatbelt anchor having a seat-belt insertion hole permitting a seat belt topass therethrough; a cover for accommodating at least part of said seatbelt anchor so that said seat belt anchor and said cover are relativelymovable, said cover having a seat-belt insertion hole which is permittedto be aligned with the seat-belt insertion hole of said seat belt anchorand which permits the seat belt to pass therethrough; andrelative-position indicating means for indicating a relative positionbetween said seat belt anchor and said cover, the relative positionvarying with a change in a tension force applied to the seat belt. 2.The seat belt connector assembly according to claim 1, wherein saidrelative-position indicating means indicates whether or not a desiredrelative position, at which a desired tension force is applied to theseat belt, is established between said seat belt anchor and said cover.3. The seat belt connector assembly according to claim 2, wherein saidrelative-position indicating means has a mark formed in an outer face ofsaid seat belt anchor and a through hole formed in said cover, and saidmark and said through hole are formed at positions such as to permit themark to be visible through the through hole when the desired relativeposition is established between said seat belt anchor and said cover. 4.The seat belt connector assembly according to claim 1, wherein saidrelative-position indicating means indicates the relative position inaccordance with a capacitance between electrodes individually formed inopposed faces of said seat belt anchor and said cover.
 5. The seat beltconnector assembly according to claim 1, wherein said relative-positionindicating means indicates the relative position in accordance with aresistance between electric elements individually provided in opposedfaces of said seat belt anchor and said cover.
 6. The seat beltconnector assembly according to claim 1, wherein said relative-positionindicating means comprises a variable resistor and mechanical elementsindividually provided in opposed faces of said seat belt anchor and saidcover, said mechanical elements change a resistance of the variableresistor in accordance with a change in the relative position betweensaid seat belt anchor and said cover, and said relative-positionindicating means indicates the relative position in accordance with theresistance of said variable resistor.